A professor at West Virginia University's College of Law recently published book that explores a side of Gandhi most are not familiar with: his early years as a lawyer in South Africa. It's the first extensive examination into this chapter of Gandhi's life.
April 1893In April 1893, Gandhi aged 23, set sail for South Africa to be the lawyer for Abdullah's cousin. He spent 21 years in South Africa, where he developed his political views, ethics and politics.
As a 19-year-old, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi had left India for the first time on September 4, 1888, to get enrolled in the centuries-old law institute Inner Temple in London. Having become a barrister, M.K.
4 September 1888Gandhi enrolled at Samaldas College, Bhaunagar, in 1887 but left after one term. However, he was encouraged to go to London to study law and he left for London on 4 September 1888.
When gandhi opened his law office in Johannesburg in 1903, it was a time of new beginnings for the thirty-three-year-old lawyer. His Durban practice was behind him, as was his struggle to establish himself in India. It was also a time of new beginnings for the Transvaal.
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, a person must belong to one of these Inns.
UCL Faculty of LawsMahatma Gandhi / College (1888–1891)The UCL Faculty of Laws is the law school of University College London, itself part of the federal University of London. It is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties and is based in London, United Kingdom. Wikipedia
Mohandas Karamchand GandhiMahatma Gandhi / Full nameMohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in Porbandar, a town in Gujarat in western India on 2 October 1869.
Gandhi's Life as a Lawyer Revealed. Mahatma Gandhi is widely recognized as a leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India who employed nonviolent civil disobedience, inspiring movements for civil rights across the world. A professor at West Virginia University’s College of Law recently published book that explores a side ...
By the end his practice, his entire practice is devoted to his political, moral, and spiritual beliefs. And at that point he becomes integrated.
“In fact in one of his first cases in India where he tried to launch a practice and failed, he had to basically withdraw from the case because he was too nervous in court!” . DiSalvo remarks.
Charles R. DiSalvo in his office at the College of Law at West Virginia University. Mahatma Gandhi is widely recognized as a leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India who employed nonviolent civil disobedience, inspiring movements for civil rights across the world.
DiSalvo gives much credit to the many law and history students who read through some 10,000 newspapers from South Africa which held keys to unlocking details of Gandhi’s career as a lawyer and a politician. DiSalvo says it was that Herculean effort that perhaps prevented anyone else from writing this book earlier.
First published by Random House India, and most recently by University of California Press, DiSalvo says producing this work that explores Gandhi’s early life in South Africa has been a goal since he discovered that Gandhi was in fact a lawyer for 25 years before becoming a pacifist reformer in India. “I was astounded,” DiSalvo says, “because he ...
DiSalvo explains that it was in what was considered at the time a backwater, in South Africa, where he worked to overcome his fear. “And he grew, he rose to the occasion, and he changed. Before he leaves South Africa, before he gives up the practice of law, he’s on his feet giving speeches that last two and more hours.
1. Mahatma Gandhi sailed for England on 4th September, 1888 to study law and become a barrister. He kept terms at the Inner Temple and after nine months' intensive study he took all his subjects in one examination which he passed. He was called to the Bar on 10th June, 1891 and was enrolled in the High Court of England the next day. A day later, he sailed home. After his return to India he started practice as a lawyer at first in the High Court at Bombay and a little later in Rajkot but did not make much headway in the profession. It was only when the hand of destiny guided his steps to South Africa that he soon made his mark there as a lawyer and as a public worker. Gandhiji practised as a lawyer for over twenty years before he gave up the practice of the profession in order to devote all his time and energy to public service. The valuable experience and skill that he acquired in the course of his large and lucrative practice stood him in good stead in fighting his battles with the South African and British governments for securing political, economic and social justice for his fellow-countrymen. Gandhiji was not a visionary but a practical idealist. As Sir Stafford Cripps has remarked: "He was no simple mystic; combined with his religious outlook was his lawyer-trained mind, quick and apt in reasoning. He was a formidable opponent in argument." 1
Appendix VII contains the order issued by the Benchers of Inner Temple on 10th November 1922 disbarring Gandhiji and removing his name from the roll of barristers on his conviction and sentence to six years' imprisonment on 18th March 1922 by the Court of the Sessions Judge, Ahmedabad.
Appendix II contains select thoughts of Gandhiji on the law and the lawyers. Appendix III contains the text of the speech of the late B. N. Gokhale, ex-judge of the Bombay High Court at the symposium organized by the Bombay Branch of the Gandhi Smarak Nidhi on 1-7-1963 in which he dealt with Gandhiji's legal philosophy.
Gandhiji went to South Africa in April 1893 and stayed for a whole year in Pretoria in connection with the case of Sheth Dada Abdulla who was involved in a civil suit with his near relative Sheth Tyeb Haji Khan Mahammad who also stayed in Pretoria.
If there was one characteristic more than another that stamped Gandhi as a man amongst men, it was his extraordinary love of truth. The Mahatma was an ardent and inveterate votary of truth. Truth, like nonviolence, was the first article of his faith and the last article of his creed.
The prevailing note was one of sadness. It was realized, of course, that Gandhi had been conducting the most dangerous campaign, that that campaign had resulted in considerable bloodshed and disorder, and that one course and one only was possible, viz., the course which had been adopted.
It also gives an account of the farcical political trials held in the Punjab in 1919 during the Martial Law regime, when several innocent persons were sentenced by special courts to death or life-imprisonment on the flimsiest of evidence.
However, the person he became had much to do with his life as a lawyer. Gandhi sailed for England on 4th September, 1888 to study law and become a barrister. He was called to the Bar on 10th June, 1891 and was enrolled in the High Court of England the next day. A day later, he sailed home.
Facts according to Gandhi constituted three-fourths of the law and if we took care of the facts of a case the law would take care of itself. If there was one characteristic more than another that stamped Gandhi as a man, it was his extraordinary love of truth.
Gandhi as Lawyer. Mohandas Gandhi was an Indian activist who was the leader of the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule. Employing nonviolent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.
In 1984, his special portrait was unveiled in the library. Furthermore, Gandhi’s bust now adorns the coffee room of the Inner Temple and his statue has been installed in its lawns.
Born and raised in a Hindu family in coastal Gujarat, western India, Gandhi trained in law at the Inner Temple, London, and was called to the bar at age 22 in June 1891.
Gandhi enrolled at Samaldas College, Bhaunagar, in 1887 but left after one term. However, he was encouraged to go to London to study law and he left for London on 4 September 1888.
Gandhi goes to South Africa to work for a Muslim Indian law firm. Gandhi agrees to travel to South Africa to help a Muslim Indian law firm with a lawsuit. He is shocked by the racial discrimination he finds there when he learns he is not allowed to travel in the first class section of the train.
Born in Porbandar, India, Gandhi studied law and organized boycotts against British institutions in peaceful forms of civil disobedience. He was killed by a fanatic in 1948. Gandhi leading the Salt March in protest against the government monopoly on salt production.
Gandhi calls for widespread civil disobedience in demanding complete self-rule, leading again to widespread movements in India. He arrives in London to represent Indians in discussions about the future of India’s independence. This will be his last visit to Britain.
Gandhi was in the courtroom, telling the judge he would except the biggest penalty possible. The Salt March against the British. He is referring for Hindu/Muslim Violence.
He was called to the Bar – the ceremony in the dining hall of the Inn of Court at which successful students are presented with their certificates and are thereafter allowed to practise law – on 10 June 1891 and was enrolled at the High Court on the next day. He sailed for home the day after that.
He vehemently opposed an English lawyer when he advocated that the duty of a lawyer was to defend a client even if he knew that he was guilty. Gandhi on the other hand was emphatic that the duty of a lawyer was to place correct facts before the judge and to help him to arrive at the truth, and not to prove the guilty as innocent.
Mahatma Gandhi has been recognised throughout the world as a glorious symbol of truth and non-violence. He laid great emphasis on the purity of means for achievement of noble ends. Truth is as old as the Himalayas. Everyone knows its value and strength but Gandhiji applied it in every aspect of his life and proved that one could achieve success ...
But this was not so with Gandhiji. He had been in search of truth from his early life. There are a number of incidents in his life which go to show that he followed the path of truth even in the face of numerous difficulties. He disproved the theory that without using untruth no one could be a successful lawyer.
Gandhiji always used to tell his friends and clients that truth triumphs and one must always follow the path of truth and non-violence. His dependence on truth always proved to be a boon for him in and outside the courtroom. He was honest not only to the Court but to his clients as well.
Gandhiji's father, Karamchand Gandhi, served as a Chief Minister in Porbandar and other States in Western India. His mother, Putlibai, was a religious woman.
In 1893, Gandhiji obtained a contract to perform legal services in South Africa for one year and he went to Durban. When Gandhiji arrived in South Africa, he was disappointed by the racial discrimination faced by Indians at the hands of white British authorities.
In Johannesburg, while appearing for a case, Gandhiji noticed that his client had misled him and provided him with wrong facts. He scolded his client and immediately requested the Court to dissolve his case there and then only, which shocked the opposite Counsel. The Judge praised the morals and ethics of Gandhiji.
Gandhiji denied to move to the back of the train and in the fullness of time, he was thrown off the train at a station in Pietermaritzburg.
He would never shy away in accepting his mistakes and would never hide any ignorance of the law, if he had any, to his clients. Gandhiji used to discuss and deliberate about the intricacies of laws with his colleagues and seniors which helped him to effectively analyse and grasp laws of different kinds.
Though the award of the arbitrator was in favour of Gandhiji's client, there were some errors in the accounts. Gandhiji's Senior Lawyer who was also engaged in the matter wanted the errors not to be identified before the Court but Gandhiji took an exception to his Senior's notion and argued the case himself.